Stories/Essays: Senseless Streets: mbgang09-01

"Uncle" Joe Hunter talks on his cell phone in a Frayser High School hallway. Hunter, a former gangster turned preacher, volunteers as a mentor at several North Memphis schools. He also reaches out to gang members in his after-school program. "That guy who just finished smoking a blunt and has a gun on him, I still hug him." he said. "And when that time of desperation comes, you know who they'll call? Uncle Joe."